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Although the T&T economy is contracting due to falling oil prices, citizens deserve to share in whatever wealth is available, Labour Minister Jennifer-Baptiste Primus said yesterday.
“All of us want to live a happy life, live a reasonable life, and to ensure that the workers of this country earn a living wage. That has been one of the songs of labour over the years. The pie is a reducing pie with the falling oil prices but as the Prime Minister has said everyone must be able to share in that pie.
There will be no creaming off that top as in the past and if there is any creaming off it would be at the top to share a little more with those at the bottom,” she said after holding a series of meetings with officials of the Employers’ Consultative Association (ECA), the T&T Manufacturers' Association (TTMA) and the Joint Consultative Association (JCC) at the Ministry of Labour in Port-of-Spain.
Baptiste-Primus, who spoke with reporters after her meeting with JTUM, described the talks as “healthy and frank.” She said they agreed that the amendment of the Industrial Relations Act of 2015 will be withdrawn and the views of all stakeholders will be sought.
Ancel Roget, president of the Oilfield Workers' Trade Union (OWTU), said one of the most serious issues affecting the country is low workplace productivity.
“How do you bring all those things together to get the vast potential of all of the workforce to bring to bear increased revenue for the country to improve the quality of lives?” he asked.
“It is about maintaining industrial peace and any government or Minister of Labour that continues to demonstrate respect for the trade union movement is a Labour Minister well on her road to success,” he said.
Roget said current procedures to get a trade unions recognized denies hundreds of thousands of workers proper representation.
He said: “Even if there is a law that says every worker can join a trade union, the process to get that representation is onerous. That must be treated with a sense of urgency.”
He said the labour movement has a significant contribution to make in T&T and the country cannot move forward without its input. He added that there are still people at senior positions at state boards “creating mischief” and they should be removed.
“We cannot go forward with persons at boards, ministries and statutory bodies who were appointed because of political allegiances and have no qualifications,” he said.
